Sears wants ads to spark sales

Published on February 18, 1999.

Sears, Roebuck & Co., Hoffman Estates, Ill., will move away from its branding message and instead focus on individual brands that it sells, in a move to make advertising generate sales, Senior VP-Marketing Mark Cohen told Wall Street analysts at a meeting in Chicago today. Mr. Cohen, in his first public statements on Sears' marketing, said the retailer would continue spending $1 billion-plus on advertising and wouldn't shift expenditures among the media. However, Sears will measure ad effectiveness based on sales, not on consumer awareness as it has in the past, Mr. Cohen said.